Meet Me At Rainbow Corner: Celia Imrie and Fidelis Morgan in conversation
Sunday 5 October 2025
4–5pm
£14
Hazlitt Theatre, Earl Street, Maidstone, UK
Event Description
Join acclaimed actress and bestselling author Celia Imrie and director and writer Fidelis Morgan for a compelling discussion about their collaboration on Meet Me at Rainbow Corner, a novel inspired by true stories from wartime London.
Set in 1944, the book follows Dot Gallagher, a young nurse who discovers the vibrant world of Rainbow Corner, a legendary American Red Cross club in Piccadilly where US soldiers and British women found joy, friendship and love amid the turmoil of the Second World War.
Drawing on a treasure trove of letters, diaries and personal memories—including those of Morgan’s own mother, who was engaged three times to American GIs—the novel is a vivid tribute to the unsung women who served, danced, and lived through the war with courage and heart.
In this event, Imrie and Morgan will discuss the real-life inspirations behind the book, their shared fascination with this extraordinary chapter of history, and the creative journey of bringing these stories to life. This event promises to be full of laughter, discovery and powerful storytelling.
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This event is funded by UK Government and Maidstone Borough Council.
Biography
Celia Imrie is an Olivier Award-winning and Screen Actors Guild-nominated actress, widely celebrated for her work across film, television, and the stage. Her many screen credits include The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its sequel, Calendar Girls, Nanny McPhee, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Absolutely Fabulous, Finding Your Feet, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, and Good Grief. She is currently appearing in the Netflix series The Diplomat and will soon be seen in the highly anticipated film adaptation of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club.
In addition to her distinguished acting career, Celia is a bestselling author. Her memoir The Happy Hoofer was followed by the Nice Trilogy – Not Quite Nice, Nice Work (If You Can Get It), and A Nice Cup of Tea – all Sunday Times top ten bestsellers, as well as the novels Sail Away and Orphans of the Storm.
She now returns with Meet Me at Rainbow Corner, co-written with Fidelis Morgan – a moving and richly detailed novel set in wartime London, inspired by real letters, diaries, and untold histories. The book pays tribute to the women who danced, worked, and loved through the chaos of the Second World War, and the legendary American Red Cross club in Piccadilly where their stories unfolded.
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Fidelis Morgan is an Anglo‑Irish actress, director and writer whose career spans decades of stage, screen and literature. She began life in a gypsy caravan at Amesbury Abbey, later training at the University of Birmingham and performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre and in a West End transfer of The Vortex.
She's written acclaimed non-fiction on Restoration-era female playwrights (The Female Wits), historical crime novels in her Countess Ashby de la Zouche series, and plays including adaptations of Pamela and Hangover Square. As a theatre director, she's helmed works at the Finborough and National Theatre, often collaborating with Celia Imrie.
Fidelis conducted the historical research for Meet Me at Rainbow Corner with Celia Imrie – a richly woven novel inspired by wartime letters and the American Red Cross club in Piccadilly. It brings to life the hidden stories of women amid the Blitz and forms the heart of their upcoming conversation.